“Savaadh,” Nik said, and there was warning in the tone.
Savaadh was undeniably handsome, and I let myself wonder what it might be like to be a student of an Ensi, to ride across Vhrania from one caravanserai to the other.
“No, thank you,” I said again.
“An offer so easily declined?”
“I’m not a fighter,” I said with a smile. It was a kind of freedom, but not the freedom I’d imagined.
Chimes were sounded, and two caravanserai workers carried in an enormous table that practically slumped under the weight of the banquet atop it. Steam and scents rose deliciously from the array of items. There were loaves of bread, platters of meat, and bowls of fruit that we wouldn’t see in Carethia for two more months. It was more food than I’d ever seen at one time. Vhrania may have seemed flat and mostly empty, but there was no shortage in the caravanserai’s larder.
“I don’t need the weapon or the training,” I said with a smile. “But if I ever need to ask for sanctuary, I’m coming here first.”
We served ourselves. The Vhranians, at least in this caravanserai, grazed at the table rather than filling plates, which was fine by me. It gave me the chance to try a bit of everything.
I was eating a slice of glossy red apple—so very different from the small, wormy fruits that would appear in stronghold markets at the end of summer—when Nik appeared beside me.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
I swallowed, nodded. “There’s food, music, wine. People like me don’t get invited to parties. What’s not to like?”
“It’s good to enjoy it,” Nik said. “But be wary of him.”
“Of who?”
“Savaadh. He’s a dangerous man.”
I snorted. “You work for the Lys’Careths.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” I looked up at him. “We’re poor, not naïve. Everyone is potentially dangerous to people like us. In fact, you might ask yourself if it was safe for us to run off across the grasslands in a stranger’s carriage.”
Nik began to speak, then thought better of it. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I was a little surprised that he apologized, and so quickly. Nobles and their people weren’t usually keen on admitting they’d been wrong. “You’re forgiven. Begrudgingly.”
Nik picked up the platter of apple slices and extended it to me.
“Apologizing with someone else’s food doesn’t count.” But I still took another slice and crunched it.
“Nik.” We looked back and found Savaadh and Theranys approaching. Nik put the platter back on the table.
“We must retire soon,” Savaadh said quietly. “We should discuss things before you return.”
Nik glanced at me. “I’ll be back. Stay close to Wren.”
“I always do. Try not to run off with him to their northern camp.”
He lifted a hand in acknowledgment, and they disappeared through an archway to a different part of the complex.
Wren joined me. “Is he considering running off?”
“No, but he thinks I am because Savaadh is a flirt.”
“Being kept by an Ensi wouldn’t be freedom.”
“That’s exactly what I think.”
